Sheet aligning clamp



Oct. 3, 1944.

H. E. ROSE SHEET ALIGNING CLAMP Filed NOV. 13. 1942 l===ll=== a INVENTOR.

flrrryE/Zos 6,

ATTY.

Patented Oct. 3, 1944 SHEET ALIGNING CLAMP Harry E. Rose, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of one-half to Salvo Lavis, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application November 13, 1942, Serial No. 465,511

8 Claims.

My invention has to do with clamp devices for aligning and holding together sheets and the like for welding and other purposes. In its more particular aspects my invention finds one of its chief advantages as a clamp for aligning steel sheets disposed in edge to edge relationship, such as are used in the ship building art.

It is among the principal objects of my invention to provide a clamp capable of being made sufficiently durable to withstand extremely heavy duty use; which is operable to align extremely heavy gage sheets with a minimum of manual effort; which may be divided into sections whereby to permit one section of the clamp to be applied from one side of the work and the other section to be applied from the opposite side of the work to effect the clamping action.

It is another object to provide a device which effectively holds the sheets in aligned position without the aid of any spring means.

It is another object to provide a clamp capable of being applied between the adjacent sheets whose adjacent edges are only slightly spaced apart.

Another object is to provide a clamp capable of being adjusted to various thicknesses of work.

Still further advantages are to be derived from my invention and how those advantages as well as the foregoing specifically named objects arev attained will become clear to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description of a presently preferred form of device in which the invention may be carried out. I wish it understood at the outset, however, that, in its broader aspects as defined by the appended claims, my invention is not to be confined to the details of structure, use and association of parts now to be described except insofar as such details may be specifically recited in the claims, since the invention is susceptible of being carried out by means of other specific structures.

In the following description I shall refer to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view showing my device applied to sheets disposed in edge to edge relation;

Fi 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view taken from the right in Fig.

Fig. 4 is an end view taken from the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing a variational form of anvil;

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan View of a further variational form.

My clamp device consists generally of two oppositely disposed sheet engaging body members 5, 6 interconnected by a flexible fiat metal plate 1 which extends transversely through the space usually left between adjacent edges of adjacent sheets for welding purposes.

Member 5 has a U-shaped body H3 whose closed end Illa is adapted to bear against one face of the adjacent sheets S, S. Disposed transversely between the legs lllb, lilo of the body member 5 I pivot-ally mount an anvil l2 by means of trunnions M which rotatably fit in holes IS in the body legs. Projecting upwardly from the relatively thinner portion of the anvil I provide a plurality of lugs l 6, here shown as three in number although this number may be Varied as desired, each of which has an undercut I! in its rear side surface for the purpose to be described. The connecting plate I is a relativelythin fiat flexible metal plate having two rows Of aligned holes la, lb adjacent its respective ends. Lugs I6 project through the holes in row la and the plate may be held against longitudinal escape from the lugs by means of a detent plate l8 which is releasably secured to the relatively thicker portion of the anvil l2 by means of a screw 19 having a knurled head la and a lock washer l9b. After the lugs are inserted through the holes 1a., the plateis further held against longitudinal escape from the lugs by fitting into the undercuts ll. End Illa of body member 5 has a rectangular opening 20 to pass plate 1.

.To limit the amount of swinging movement of anvil l2 with respect to body member ID, I provide between the legs lUb, lilo and the ends of the anvil, plates 2l secured to the inner faces of the respective legs [0b, I00 as by screws 22. At the outer end of each of the plates there is a pair of spaced inturned ears 23 between which the anvil is free to swing but which act as stops to limit such swinging movement.

Member 6 is likewise composed of a U-shaped body 25 whose closed end 25a is adapted to bear against the opposite face of sheets S, S, and which has legs 25b, 250. A rectangular hole 27 is provided through end 25a to pass plate 1.

A lever 30 has bifurcations 30a pivotally secured to legs 25b, 250 by means of trunnions 3!. An anvil or tension applying member 33 is pivotally secured, by trunnions 34, to the respective bifurcations 30a, the axis of trunnions 34 being offset from the axis of trunnions 3| whereby to provide an eccentric which, upon swinging movement of the handle, causes the anvil to be moved towards and away from the end 25a of the body. Movement of the member 33 away from body end 25a places plate 1 under tension. A cross pin 36 extends between legs 25b, 250 of the body and acts as a stop to limit downward swinging of the anvil about the trunnions 34 and also acts tolimit swinging movement of the handle.

Projecting upwardly from the relatively thinner portion of anvil 33, there are lugs 38, here shown as three in number although this number may be varied. Said lugs project through the holes lb in plate 1. Each of the lugs likewise has an undercut 39 to prevent longitudinal escape of the plate fro-m the lugs.

Operation of the device is as follows: Theplate l is applied to the lugs of anvil 12 carried by body member '5 and is inserted between adjacent edges of adjacent sheets S, S until body wall Illa engages the sheets. In this position the opposite end of the plate will project far enough beyond the plane of the opposite face of the sheets to permit the other body member 25 to be secured to the plate by inserting lugs 38 through holes lb. 36 is in the dotted line position of Fig. 2 and the anvil 33 occupies the dotted line position of Fig. 2. Then the handle 30 is swung downwardly to the full line position of Fig. 2 and thus, by virtue of the axis of trunnions .34 being offset from the axis of trunnions 3|, the anvil is moved to the right from the dotted line .to the full line position of Fig. 2, which acts to clamp the sheets between portions Illa, 25a of the two body members. In this latter position the axis of trunnions 34 is slightly below the axis of trunnions 3 I, which serves to lock the parts in that position.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I show a variational form of anvil 33a having provision for adjustability, Here the anvil is divided into an upper portion 40 and a lower portion 4| carrying the upright lugs 38a for insertion through the holes la in the plate I. The contacting faces of anvil portions 4!), 4! are toothed as shown at 42 and may be locked together by a screw 45 which extends through an elongated slot 43 in the upper anvil portion 4a and which is threaded at its lower end into the lower anvil portion 4], a lock nut 44 being provided between the screw head and Trunnions the top surface of anvil portion 40. 3.4a are provided at opposite sides of the upper anvil portion for pivotal mounting on the handle bifurcations 38a. By this construction it is possible to adjust the lower anvil portion 4! with respect to the fixed anvil portion 40 whereby to vary the spacing of lugs 38a from the upper anvil portion and thus adjust the device to clamp sheets of different thicknesses.

In Fig. 7 I show a further variational form of device in which the parts are as before described except that the walls 52, 53 of the closed ends of th body members are curved whereby to clamp curved sheets S therebetween, the side walls of the U-shaped body members being designated 53, 55, respectively.

I claim:

1. A clamp for aligning sheets disposed edge to edge, comprising a relatively thin plate insertable between adjacent edges of adjacent sheets, an anchor secured to one end of the plate and having a portion bearable against one face of the sheets, a body member havin a portion bearable against the opposite face of the sheets, a handle having bifurcations, trunnion means pivotally mounting the bifurcations in the body In that position the handle iii member, an anvil detachably secured to the other end of the plate and means pivotally connecting opposite sides of the anvil to the bifurcations along an axis offset from the axis of the trunnions whereby, upon movement of the handle, to move the anvil relative to the body towards and away from the sheets.

2. A clamp for aligning sheets disposed edge to edge comprising a pair of separate, U-shaped body member whose closed ends are adapted to bear against opposite faces of the sheets, an opening through the closed end of each of the body members, a plate extending through said openings and insertable between adjacent edges of adjacent plates, means securing the plate to one of the body members, and operating means movably mounted in the other body member and detachably secured to the other end of the plate, said means being operable to exert a longitudinal pull on the plate whereby to draw the body members against opposite faces of the sheets.

3. A clamp for aligning sheets disposed edge to edge comprising a pair of separate, U-shaped body members whose closed ends are adapted to bear against opposite faces of the sheets, an opening through the closed end of each of the body members, a plate extending through said openings and insertable between adjacent edges of adjacent plates, means securing the plate to one of the body members, an anvil mounted in the other .body member to move relative thereto towards and away from the sheets, means for detachably securing the anvil to the other end of the plate, and eccentric means pivotally mounted in the last-mentioned body member, said eccentric means operatively engaging the anvil whereby to move it relative to the last-mentioned body member and towards and away from the sheets.

4. A clamp for aligning sheets disposed edge to edg comprising a pair of separate, U-shaped body members whose closed end are adapted to bear against opposite faces of the sheets, an opening through the closed end of each of the body members, a plate extending through said openings and insertable between adjacent edges of adjacent plates, a first anvil pivotally mounted in one of the body members and secured to one end of the plate, a second anvil secured to the other end of the plate and mounted in the other body member to move relative thereto towards and away from the sheets, and means carried by the last-mentioned body member and operatively engaging the second anvil to move it relative to the said body member towards and away from the sheets.

5. A clamp for aligning sheets disposed edge to edge comprising a pair of separate, U-shaped body members whose closed ends are adapted to bear against opposite faces of the sheets, an opening through the closed end of each of the body members, a plate extending through said openings and insertable between adjacent edges of adjacent plates, a first anvil pivotally mounted in one of the body members and secured to on end of the plate, a second anvil secured to the other end of the plate and mounted in the other body member to move relative thereto toward and away from the sheets, a handle having bifurcations extendin into the last-mentioned body member, trunnion means pivotally securing the bifurcations to said body member and pivot means securing th second anvil to the bifurcations about an axis offset from the axis of the trunnion means whereby upon movement of the handle in one direction to draw the body members against opposite faces of the sheets.

6. A clamp of the class described comprising a pair of separate body members each having side walls and an end wall providing a work engaging surface, a flexible plate extending from one to the other of the body members, an anvil extending transversely between and journalled at its ends in the side walls of one body member, means detachably securing one end of the plate to said anvil, a second anvil rotatably and laterally movably mounted transversely between the side walls of the other body member, means detachably securing the other end of the plate to the second anvil, and means for moving the second anvil laterally with respect to said other body member.

7. A clamp for aligning sheets disposed edge to edge, comprising a flexible plate insertable between adjacent edges of adjacent sheets, an anchor secured to one end of the plat and having a portion bearable against one face of the sheets,

a body member having a portion bearable against the opposite face of the sheets, an anvil having a portion pivotally and laterally movably mounted in the body member and an anchor portion detachably secured to the other end of the plate, and means providing adjustability of the anvil portions with respect to each other.

8. A clamp for aligning sheets disposed edge to edge, comprising, in combination, two oppositely disposed body members bearable against opposite faces of the sheets, a plate insertable between adjacent edges of adjacent sheets, means securing one end of the plate to one of the body members, tensioning means in and movable relative to the other body member, said tensioning means being detachably secured to the other end of the plate and a lever fulcrumed on said other body member and operatively engaging the tensioning means.

HARRY E. ROSE. 

